THE boy wouldn’t answer any of Marialite’s questions—not where he came from, nor why he was in her house in the first place. In fact, he wouldn’t reveal any information about himself whatsoever…other than his name: Sirius. Although, perhaps it wasn’t a case of simply refusing to tell her anything. It seemed more like he couldn’t tell her.
Each time she asked something, he bowed his head in apology and replied: “I can’t answer that.”
“Oh, no, don’t feel like you need to apologize,” Marialite insisted. “You have your reasons. I understand that.”
“…Thank you,” he said in a small voice, nibbling at the cookie she’d given him. One way or another, Marialite wanted to help.
Most likely, Sirius was an orphan. If he had nowhere to go, he might have taken refuge in her house to protect himself from the cold. For a moment, she wondered if she should take him to the orphanage, but there was no telling how a child with horns might be treated there. It was unpleasantly easy to imagine how he might end up.
As far as Marialite could tell, Sirius was half human, and possibly half monster. In this country, such creatures were thought to bring disaster to the land, thus they were relentlessly persecuted. That was why she decided to take him in herself. And, if she wanted to earn enough to support two people, she needed to find work. Fast.
“What’re you doing?” Sirius asked inquisitively, blinking at her.
At first, he thought she was just doing some weeding, then quickly realized it was something more intensive when she brought out some farming tools that had been lying in storage.
She hastily tilled the soil, creating a large patch of fertile land.
“I’m making it easier for new flowers and trees to grow here,” she explained.
With her powers, she could make any kind of plant grow. However, if she did so in an inadequate environment, the plant ended up looking a little sad. On the other hand, as long as she placed the seeds in rich, nutritious soil, her creations grew up to be happy and healthy.
She’d explained that fact to people a couple of times, but back in the palace, no one truly seemed to take an interest in her work.
“Nature, please give these seeds the gift of life.”
She offered up a prayer to the multitude of seeds she had just planted, and within moments, greenery began to stretch into the air. There were apple trees, strawberry plants, a variety of citrus trees…and a sea of beautiful flowers.
Swiftly, Marialite got to work on harvesting them. She’d specifically regulated the trees’ growth so that they wouldn’t grow too tall, which made it much easier to pick the fruit than usual.
“How beautiful…” Sirius whispered in amazement, staring in admiration.
“Isn’t it just?” Marialite smiled. “I’m a big fan of these flowers, too.”
“No, that’s not what I meant,” he shook his head. “The flowers also look wonderful, but…I was calling you beautiful, Lady Marialite.”
“Oh! Why, thank you, Sirius,” she beamed.
To be honest, she was a little suspicious of his definition of beautiful—her entire body was covered in dirt and sweat. Nevertheless, seeing the gentle smile tugging at Sirius’ lips, she decided to simply accept his compliment.
From Marialite’s point of view, Sirius had a far more charming appearance than she did. Unfortunately, he was still covering his head with sheets so that no one would see his horns, but she’d already witnessed just how gorgeous his dazzling silver hair was. Plus, he had a dainty, feminine face, which only added to his charm.
He was nothing like Marialite, who had once been told that her appearance was “okay, but nothing special.”
✦ ✦ ✦
MARIALITE went into the town a few times to sell the fruit and flowers she had harvested from the garden. However, the most anyone ever did was have a quick look at her selection as they were passing by. She couldn’t sell a single thing.
…Until she started putting out samples, that was.
She peeled the fruit and cut them into bite-sized pieces, then offered them to the public to try.
“O, saints…! It’s delicious! Where on earth did you get these?!”
“It’s sweet and juicy… I could eat it for the rest of my life!”
“Honestly, I’m speechless. I didn’t even know fruit could be this sweet at this time of year.”
Each person who sampled the fruit applauded its juicy, ripe flavor and fresh texture. Before she knew it, people were begging to buy her produce. Just as one of her customers said, it was difficult to find sweet fruit during early summer; all the fruit in the marketplace was very sour at the moment.
That must have been why everyone ignored her at first; they just assumed it would be as bad as all the other fruit. However, once word of their sweet taste got around, everyone wanted some. Plus, once people started to take a closer look at her shop, they also noticed that the flowers she sold were even better quality than at the florist’s stall.
“I ain’t seen your face ’round ’ere before. Where d’ya come from?”
“Are you married? …What? You’re single?”
Even after taking a proper look at her, no one noticed that she was Prince Rufus’ ex-fiancée. In fact, the people rarely even spoke about the crown princess in general. Having said that, nor did they notice that she used to live in the area as a regular citizen.
Even when she used to be a regular citizen, she was an unassuming woman that people never paid much attention to.
✦ ✦ ✦
“I was thinking we could have stew for dinner tonight. How does that sound to you, Sirius?” Marialite asked politely.
“Stoo? What’s that…?” he asked with a furrowed brow.
“You make it by cooking vegetables in a milky soup. The vegetables go soft and create a warm, comforting flavor. I think you’d like it,” she encouraged.
“Yes, I’ll be able to eat that.”
Apparently, there were a lot of things halflings physically couldn’t eat.
For example, vampire-human halflings felt nauseous when they ate onions or garlic, and werewolf halflings would grow weak if they didn’t eat enough meat at mealtimes.
As such, Marialite tried to ask Sirius whether he could eat something before she made it. Gradually, she was building up a list of his diet in her mind. It was lucky that out of the things he could eat, there didn’t seem to be anything he was fussy about. It wasn’t that he was just being polite because Marialite was kind enough to feed him, either; when he ate, he genuinely seemed to enjoy it, and he all but licked his plate clean.
Marialite had been expecting to live a solitary, lonely life after leaving the palace. However, Sirius changed everything.
✦ ✦ ✦
“THERE! Here’s your afternoon snack for today,” Marialite sang, offering Sirius a plate of peeled apple slices. They were just the right size for him to pop into his small mouth. As she set the plate down, his jade-green eyes sparkled like a cave of glittering jewels.
“Thank you very much, Lady Marialite.” He eagerly slid one between his lips and began to chew in small motions.
Marialite wanted to make Sirius all sorts of new dishes and show him the variety of the culinary world, but ultimately, he always went back to asking for more of the fruit she grew using her powers. Because he seemed to enjoy it so much, she started to grow more and more different types of fruit, such as different strawberry and grape varieties. She could also sell the excess fruit in town, so she was actually earning quite a lot of money. Thanks to her newfound income, she could make plenty of delicious food for Sirius and also buy a lot of clothes.
When they first met, Sirius was nothing but skin and bones—but now, he’d put on weight, and his cheeks were round and soft like little marshmallows. His way of speaking had also become a little less awkward.
“…Lady Marialite?” he piped up. “Could I ask… Is there anything you want? Something you’ve thought about buying, for example.”
“Huh? I don’t think so,” she replied.
“Then, what about something you’d like to do?”
“Hmm, let me think…”
Looking after Sirius was no trouble to her, and it wasn’t as though she was a greedy or materialistic person in the first place. She was quite content with their current situation. She loved gardening, and it was a blessing that she got to make a living doing it. Of course, she still wanted to find ways to grow as many different plants as she could, but for now, she was happy enough just making sure Sirius was happy and healthy.
“Right now, I think I’d just like to watch over you as you grow up,” she smiled.
“…All right.”
“I wonder what kind of person you’ll become,” she commented aloud.
Once Sirius became an adult, Marialite had no doubt that he’d have to move to a different country. As things stood, he wasn’t even free to walk around town, let alone meet new people.
Most likely, he’d grow into a brave, dignified young man. Then, he’d move to a country that treated halflings well, and meet a woman who was just as lovely as he was.